A Bedtime Story
by Kiomey
Summary: Naruto, Shikamaru, and Hinata are sent to put a superstitious country's fears at bay. What happens when the country's fears aren't just superstition? Strange things are happening, and it's only going to get stranger.


A.N.: This is my first Naruto fanfic, I hope it's good, R&R please.

A small caterpillar slowly crawled up a tree.

This may sound like something easily done, but to this caterpillar, it was no small feat. The poor creature had been crawling all day; dodging prey, negotiating obstacles, and climbing other trees. The tree itself was very tall too, and it's hard to find your way up a tall tree at night. It took all the caterpillar's willpower to keep going. Inch by excruciating inch it made its way up. It had only one goal: dinner. It made one last horizontal crawl to the first leaf and elation almost too big for its body filled it. Ceremoniously, the creature opened its mouth, inhaling dramatically as it did so. This was the moment. So much work had gone in to getting this far, and nothing was going to stop this green fuzzy bug.

Unless, of course, something gigantic happened to rumble by, trampling everything in its path, and everything in its path just so happened to include the unlucky caterpillar's tree. That would stop it.

And, ironically, that's just what happened. It was like something out of a silly book. The tree, caterpillar and all, went down with a loud thud (or so it's said, but who really knows?).

The gigantic something that happened to rumble by wasn't the thing of silly books though. It was more like something out of a horror story. And if you saw it slithering its reptilian length at its rapid pace, mercilessly demolishing everything in its path, the last thing you'd do was laugh. It would stop for no one, and it would kill anyone.

The monster saw its destination, and it didn't plan on stopping till it got there. It had been sliding all day, eating prey, creating obstacles, and toppling trees over. With a grin that only it could interpret, the monster sped, meter by exciting meter towards the place. It had only one goal: dinner.

They say, that if you listen hard enough, on a moonless night, you can still hear their screams.

**

* * *

**

"Narutooooooooo! " screamed Sakura. She was in her you're-dead-meat mode, and Naruto half-expected to see steam coming out her ears.

"W-wait Stop! It was an accident " Naruto pleaded, holding up his hands to shield his face. It truly was an accident, but he had two things going against him. One; Sakura was too mad to listen to him, and two; he was a guy.

"This is a brand new dress, idiot. You got your stupid ramen all over it This stain will never come out! You owe me big time " Sakura continued over Naruto's pleas. It'd be surprising if the people couldn't hear them over in the Snow Country. This continued for several moments until finally Naruto began to get irritated himself.

"Well, how was I supposed to know it was new? All your dresses look the same " Naruto finally retorted.

Sakura's ranting suddenly stopped. Her fists clenched, her eyebrows lowered, and her pupils shrank several times, making them small dots in the abyss of white-hot anger.

"I mean, come on," Naruto continued, obliviously digging himself a grave, "Who could tell the difference? If you're going to get mad over it getting dirty, you shouldn't waist your money buying it! "

Some witnesses believe Naruto would've died that day if Shikamaru hadn't come at that exact moment. "Hey, Naruto, Hokage-Sama wants you "

"Huh?" Naruto turned his head, "What for?"

"A mission," Shikamaru said, his answer short and to the point.

"A mission?" Naruto asked, adopting a casual pose, "I guess it's time to see what old granny Tsunade needs me for this time." And with that, Naruto made as if to leave. He might have made it, if not for the shoe that hit him square in the face.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and formed a symbol with his hands and conctrated his chakara. Sakura immediate stopped pelting Naruto with any abject she could and assumed a position much like the position Shikamaru was in.

"You better leave while I hold her back, Naruto, I'll catch up," Shikamaru yelled so that his voice could be heard. While she couldn't throw objects at Naruto, she could still use her voice, and she was using it like there was no tomorrow.

"Right," Naruto said, waving to Shikamaru in thanks as he took off towards the Hokage's office, a fierce look of determination on his face, " Your sacrifice won't be in vain." Naruto said emphatically.

* * *

Thankfully, no sacrifice worth mentioning was made. After staying a few moments to let Sakura calm down, Shikamaru caught up to Naruto and they both arrived at the Hokage's office door unscathed. 

They both entered the room in their signature ways, Shikamaru looking bored, Naruto looking overconfident. Hinata, who had arrived before them both, was looking quite shy, but she had a confidence she had not had only a month before.

When Naruto greeted her as enthusiastically as he did everything else, she merely greeted Naruto politely without any stuttering. Her smile was still a bit shy though.

"I'm glad you could make it you two," greeted the Hokage a little less politely and a lot more impatiently.

"So, we have a mission together?" Asked Shikamaru, getting to the point as quickly as possible.

Tsunade smiled as if appreciative of his directness, closing her eyes so briefly, it might have just been a long blink. "Correct, the Airy Fell Country has requested an inspection."

"And inspection?" Naruto echoed.

"Yes, you see, the people of the Airy Fell Country are prone to…superstition. They have reported a disturbing amount of monster sightings, and they have asked us to take care of whatever it is that's causing this." 'Granny' Tsunade finished.

"In other words," Shikamaru said, "We're checking for monsters under the bed?"

"In a sense," the Hokage avoided any direct answer. She knew what Naruto would think of this mission, but they were really the only three left for the mission.

"Tcha! This mission is for children, why send us?" Naruto asked, obviously insulted by such a 'useless' mission.

"The Airy Fell Country is rich despite it's superstitions, and they pay good money. If it's only to make them happy, you _will _inspect things for them," the leader of Konoha village said. Her eyes, searched the three standing in front of her, as if daring them to challenge her.

"Oh, all right," Naruto said off-handedly, apparently oblivious to the lack of respect he was showing. "I guess we'll have to go." He decided.

"Shikamaru, you will lead this mission, don't let Naruto cause too much trouble."

"Yeah, yeah," Shikamaru sighed ignoring Naruto's insulted rants, "This is going to be a troublesome mission."

**

* * *

**

The trail Shikamaru and his group took was wide enough for a cart to be pulled through with room to spare, so they walked side by side as they made their way through the Airy Fell Country. The surrounding land was actually quite appealing. They walked on the side of a tall hill, the land rising to their left, and sloping gracefully away to their right. Everything was green, and several hills similar to the one they were on surrounded them. There were few trees, perhaps a weeping willow here, or an oak there, but there was tall, green grass they covered everything like a blanket.

Naruto looked to his right, looking down at the river that wound its way between hills. At first he just noted how it sounded, then after a moment, he realized he was thirsty. Keeping in pace with Shikamaru and Hinata, he reached in his pack for his canteen and pulled it out. It was very light.

Naruto wasted a few moments trying to drink water that he knew wasn't there. Finally realizing he was getting nowhere fast, Naruto turned to his left "Hey, Shikamaru, can I have some of your water?"

"You have your own, why not use that?" asked an irritated Shikamaru.

"It's empty."

"Didn't you fill it up before you left?"

"I guess I drank it all," Naruto answered, something vague registering in his brain, trying to make itself known.

"Drank it all? When?" Asked Shikamaru.

"When I was thirsty," Naruto answered, slightly agitated.

Before Shikamaru could reply, Hinata said, "Naruto, you can have some of mine"

"Oh, thank you Hinata," Naruto smiled gratefully as he waited for Hinata to get her canteen out. After a few moments' fumbling, she pulled it out, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Um, my water's gone too," she said apologetically.

Shikamaru turned to look at Hinata's confused expression. _That's strange, _he thought, _I wonder if my water's still full._ Shikamaru pulled out his canteen and was surprised to find it was empty too. He stopped, and Naruto and Hinata followed his lead. "I guess we'll have to get some water from the river," he said annoyed by the pesky task they now had to do.

So they left the path and headed towards the creek quickly, wanting to get it over with and continue towards their designated meeting point. Naruto immediately went, whooping, in to the river, splashing Hinata and Shikamaru. It seemed as if he was dead set on drenching the two fully when he suddenly went under with a yelp.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked, concerned.

"Don't worry about him, he's just being an idiot," Shikamaru said as he filled his canteen.

After a moment's hesitation, Hinata did the same.

Tenminutes later, Naruto still hadn't come up.


End file.
